Mad Man, your last step in that loop is nonresponsive, that’s why we’re looping. “Is being a woman more like being a lizard or more like being a blonde” is not answered by the reply that “It’s on [me] to propose an alternate definition”.
You offer the lizard hypothetical, because you’ve argued all along that woman is an inherently biological term. That’s question-begging because it effectively says, “look how we would treat this obviously different case that’s more biological; therefore, we should treat this case the same way.” I point out that we can come up with more biological and more social cases, and we need to decide which one is relevant here. Returning to your claim that woman is biological is non-responsive.
What’s more, I then responded on your terms: the biological definition isn’t the only definition in the dictionary, the source of authority to which you appealed. I don’t need to invent my own definition, I pointed you to three sources that attest to the fact that woman has a social meaning that isn’t reducible to biology. And now you seem to be saying, “well I don’t accept the authority of the source of authority to which I’ve repeatedly appealed, so I guess we’re back at square one. It’s a loop!”
We’re looping because you’re cornered, by your own use of the words and concepts we’re discussing, and by the source of authority on which you’ve based your argument. Let me spell this out:
You claimed that “woman” is a word purely based in biology. But you acknowledge that it would be inappropriate to call a transman a “woman”, even though the change is superficial, non-biological. You may prefer a new word, you may prefer to multiply the genders, but your own acknowledge use of the language is one that doesn’t not depend solely on biology. When biology and social role don’t match, you admit that the word no longer applies.
You claimed that the authoritative definition of woman is biological, and I pointed to the same authority where it provides the non-biological meaning that you’re claiming doesn’t exist.
But let me offer another argument for the proposition that social sex is different from biological sex and doesn’t depend on it:
Young children frequently learn about social sex before the learn about biological sex. Their concept of social sex differences (hair length, style of dress, activities, household responsibilities, etc.) is often significantly more developed than their concept of biological sex differences, because they see a lot of the social differences and few of the biological ones. They may breastfeed at first, but they generally forget about breastfeeding at a fairly young age (anecdotally, my daughter stopped breastfeeding at around 1, and had forgotten about it by the time her sister was born around 2.5). They see few genitals other than their own. But they see social sexual roles in every interaction, in much language about the people around them, in every book and show and story they are exposed to.
One might argue that this meaning is indirectly biological, because their parents’ use is biological. But 1) this too will be question begging, and 2) we don’t disagree that the distinction between men and women is historically rooted in animal biology, only that the current meaning is not. And to the extent people’s present understanding of the difference currently starts with a social understanding, and only later includes the biological differences, the supports the idea that it’s primarily a social concept as used by modern speakers.
One might also object that though kids don’t see genitals, they do see differences of body type, hairiness, strength, etc. that are due to differences in biology. 1) They are also socialized to see e.g. Winnie the Pooh as a boy; the modern concept of social sex actually derives in greater and greater part from fictional representations of sex, and in particular from cartoons, in which biological is not depicted. 2) Most of those are social, in the sense that testosterone supplements will increase muscle mass and hair growth and strength, and if biowoman+testoerone=“woman”, I will consider that a vindication of my point.
The best countpoint I can come up with is that while the initial meaning does not depend on biology, once the biological understanding is added, it tends to dominate in importance, and supplant the earlier meaning. I think this is plausible, but not right.
I don’t know. I don’t think this is a simple question, and I don’t think easy answers are required. Indeed, I think one that ostensibly provides easy answers to complex question is more likely to be wrong.